Penmanship Matters.
I do pride myself on my penmanship.
For what good is writing something if no one can read it?
But this post isn’t just about penmanship.
It’s actually about how common courtesy and penmanship go hand in hand.
Okay – situation – had to go somewhere this morning to do a thing.
It was early(ish) and I had to sign in at this place that I had to go to, to do the thing.
*Side Note 1 – I’m trying to not be specific.
I get there 9 minutes early, which to me is on time.
I walk in behind someone, and I was awaiting my turn to sign in.
But no – instead of signing in, the person wanted to carry on a conversation with a worker.
So there I am – standing there, waiting to sign in, while the person signing in wanted to have a conversation.
That was annoyance #1.
But wait … for there are a few more annoyances ……
As the person finally decided it was time to actually sign in, she got to the line on the form where it had you write down the time that you were signing in.
“What time is it?”, she says to the worker she was talking to.
“It’s 6:53”, the worker responds.
Remember how a little bit above I wrote that I was there 9 minutes early, so I was there at 6:51?
Yes – I have waited 2 minutes to sign in.
BUT – the wait was but another annoyance, because in asking the time – THERE IS A CLOCK IMMEDIATELY ON THE WALL TO YOUR LEFT – NO MORE THAT 4 FEET AWAY – JUST TURN YOUR HEAD SLIGHTLY.
Plus, there is a clock across the room to your right, and another clock in the back of the room.
I feel this person has a bit of a feeling of self-importance, as this person can’t be burdened with turning their head to find the time and another person could serve her by telling her, at her request, the information she could easily get herself.
BUT WAIT – there is still another annoyance.
As I finally got to the sign-in sheet, I went to sign my name and there came my biggest annoyance.
The sign-in sheet has lines on it, and in this society, we have been acclimated to sign in by the line.
But this person, this entitled person, decided that one line was not enough.
Now, I understand if your name has some letters in it that go beneath the line that you are signing on. Maybe a “g” or a “y” or another letter where the bottom of the letter goes beneath the line.
But this person went beyond that – this person felt their signature demanded more space than just the 1 line.
Oh no – this person needed their signature to not only occupy the appropriate line, but also the line below to accommodate the letters tat went below, but also into the space above the line where they were to sign.
Can’t people follow directions and modify their penmanship to fill out a line and not protrude into the other spaces?
RUDE.
So, I decided to write my name as small as possible, then sign my name as small as possible and then record the time that I signed in as small as possible.
Maybe it was early and maybe I hadn’t had enough coffee – but jeez …..
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